Lake Titicaca

I went to Lake Titicaca this weekend and wow, was that ever interesting.

I took a night bus from Cusco to Puno. I left Cusco at 10pm and arrived in Puno at 4:30 am. The bus was a double decker and the seats reclined to almost horizontal and there was a leg rest that kind of folded down. Very plush! The bus was a double decker and the bottom deck's seat where like a 1st class seat on an airplane but with a leg rest.

I took a taxi to hotel where I could freshen up, rest and have breakfast. I was picked up from the hotel at 7:50am and away we went.

Our first stop was Uros the floating islands. The Islands are not large and they are made of reeds. The reeds are cut into blocks and secured together by thin ropes. Then reeds are laid crisscrossed on the reed root ball. They do several layers of crisscrossed reeds. The people build their huts out of reeds and their boats out to reeds. They make handicrafts which they trade in Puno for food. They even eat the white centre of the reeds. Their main food source is fish. They also trade fish in Puno for food also.

Women dressed in traditional clothes on Isla de Uros.

I went to another island where I was placed in a homestay. I met my host family and went to their home for lunch. After lunch my tour group walked to the top of the island where there were some ruins and then we watched the sunset. It was spectacular. God really is the Master Creator! I was able to see from the top of the island some snowcapped mountains in Bolivia. Amazing!

After walking back down from the top of the island, which was much easier, we went to our host families home and ate dinner. I was able to help Sylvia to prepare some of the supper. I was also sharing this host family with a couple from Sundre, AB who were also on the tour. This couple knows some of my cousins in Sundre as their children went to school with my cousins. What a small world it truly can be.

After supper, we dressed in some of the traditionally clothes from the island and went to a dance at the community centre. There were 10 communities on the island and each community has not only it's own community centre but their own President as well. There are no police on the island and their are no lawyers either.

Above is a picture of the outside of the home where I stayed.
Below is a picture of an archway on the top of the island where there was some ruins.

This was the sunset that I experienced on the island. God has done some truly amazing work.

The last island that we went to was called Taquile, and here the men knit. Apparently, it is illegal for a woman to knit - they weave instead. This island has a population of about 2500 people. There are no horses, no dogs and I don't know if there are any donkeys either. We walked to the top of the island again and then walked down over 500 stairs to get back to the boat.

On the island of Taquile a wedding is not a happy time for the bride and groom. The bride has to cut her hair which is very long and then her husband has to knit with it to make it into a scarf like thing. The bride has to weave a piece of cloth in the traditional groom pattern and then these two things are joined as one. The bride and groom have to sit on the floor during the wedding and they are not allowed to smile or look happy. If they do it means that they will have a turbulent marriage. They are also not allowed to use their hands for anything. Their parents must feed then and if they have to go the bathroom their parents have to help them with that as well. The women's skirts are made of wool and very heavy. The bride has to wear 20 skirts on her wedding day. I am not sure how long a wedding lasts, it was either 3 days or one week. The bride and groom have to prepare everything themselves, make the food, kill the sheep to feed their guests but they are not allowed to enjoy it themselves. I can't imagine!

We arrived back in Puno at about 4pm and looked around a bit. We checked out the Cathedral, another church and the coca museum. We read a lot about the coca leaf and the beliefs of the peruvian people pertaining to the coca leaf. On the island on Taquile men when the meet on the street do not shake hands like we would in Canada, they would exchange coca leaves instead. These are chewed and I think you can get a slight buzz from chewing the coca leaf. At least that is what I was told by a young volunteer who chews coca leaves constantly.

We had dinner at a restaurant called Balcones del Puno. They have a traditional dance show that was very, very good. After dinner it was back to the bus station for our ride home to Cusco. I arrived in Cusco at 4 in the morning and was glad to see my own bed. It was a very full weekend, but also very much worth while.

Please pray for Mike and Chelsea that the delivery of their baby goes well for all concerned. That the baby is born healthy and strong.

Also pray for me as I seem to be very busy during the week with my volunteer project, my spanish lessons and my 1 hour tandem class - this is where I meet a peruvian who is currently learning english and we help each other out in conversing with each other.

Pray for some of the volunteers in the volunteer house. It appears a lot are far from God. Pray that I may be a witness to them as to "a life lived with Christ". May they see in me something that they desire, whether it be a peace, a contentment, a positiveness, whatever it is. May God use me here in this place in a mighty way.